Agenda item

To consider any Notices of Motion that have been received in accordance with paragraph 1.34 of the Council Procedure Rules

Consideration was given to the following Notices of Motion, which had been submitted in accordance with paragraph 1.34 of the Council Procedure Rule:-

 

1          Holmes Chapel Health Centre

 

Proposed by Councillor L Gilbert and Seconded by Councillor A Kolker

 

That Council rescinds its requirement for Holmes Chapel Health Centre to pay a fee of £4,320 for access through the Holmes Chapel Library car park for the following reasons:-

 

1. Access is required to enable the Health Centre to construct an extension in order to meet the needs of a growing local population.

 

2. The car park produces no income for the Council and there will therefore be no loss of income as a result of the loss of four parking spaces for two months.

 

3. The charge amounts to profiteering at the expense of the NHS.

 

4. The charge adds unnecessary cost to a project to improve public services in Cheshire East.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Motion be referred to the Portfolio Holder for Environment and Regeneration.

2          Fighting fire in our Borough

Proposed by Councillor J Parry and Seconded by Councillor N Mannion

This Council pays tribute to the essential work undertaken by every member of staff at Cheshire Fire and Rescue. We recognise that it is their hard work, every day, that keeps people safe in their homes, in the place that they work, or whilst they are here visiting our County. 

This Council believes that government cuts to fire services in the UK have gone too far. We recognise the pressures faced by Cheshire Fire and Rescue and the Fire Authority, which has had to deal with cuts of £12 million over the past nine years.

This Council understands the high levels of public concern about fire cuts and the impact that this could have on the community where they live. We acknowledge the role that the campaign in Crewe played in raising awareness amongst members of the public about fire cover in the area. The level of public interest in both this campaign and campaigns in Chester and Ellesmere Port serves as a reminder to councils and other public services in the sub-region about the need to be innovative in finding ways to involve and communicate with residents in the decisions we take.

This Council believes that all residents in every village and town in Cheshire East and across the County need to feel confident about response times and fire cover where they live. Therefore this Council resolves to ask the Leader of the Council to write to the Policing and Fire Minister to lobby for:

·            An urgent government review of the impact of austerity on fire services and response times

·            Restoration of the cuts to fire service finances over the last nine years.

·            A decent pay rise for Cheshire Firefighters and staff.

And to write to the Chief Fire Officer at Cheshire Fire and Rescue to ask that the Fire Authority considers the following recommendations:

·            That as part of ongoing fire service reviews, the current 10 minute target time for fire engines to respond to dwelling fires is expanded to include historic buildings, office buildings, industrial sites, schools, hospitals and other public buildings.

·            Other Incident types such as Flooding, water rescue, rescue from Height and Incidents involving Hazardous materials are all included within the Cheshire 10 minute standard.

·            That the Cheshire Fire and Rescue 10 minute standard is inclusive of the call handling time – as advised by the home office, formerly department for communities and local government.

·            That the design and build of future fire stations adopt the aspirations of our towns Climate Change Emergency motion and that the Fire Authority considers passing their own Climate Change Emergency motion.

 

AMENDMENT

 

Following the proposing and seconding of the Motion, an amendment was proposed and seconded that the third bullet point ‘A decent pay rise for Cheshire Firefighters and staff’ be removed and the following wording be added  “write in support of progression of mandatory installation of sprinklers as per Fire Authority wishes’

These amendments were accepted by the mover and seconder.

RESOLVED:

That the Motion as amended be approved.

 

3.         Pavement Parking and Pavement Obstruction     

 

Proposed by Cllr S Akers-Smith and Seconded by Cllr S Brookfield

 

This Council requests that Cabinet give consideration to developing a borough wide policy on pavement parking and a separate borough wide policy on pavement obstruction, which should be sufficiently flexible to recognise the varied needs and demands within different areas of the Borough. Council further calls on the Cabinet to bring a draft policy on pavement parking to a future meeting of Full Council for debate.

 

Background:

 

In September the Department for Transport recommended to Parliament that a ban on pavement parking should be legislated for and enforced across England. The legal process for a country wide ban is currently happening in Scotland and Wales and there has been a ban in London since 1974, 45 years ago.

 

In 2016 Cheshire East inspirationally were the first borough council to sign up to Cycling UK's Space for Cycling, which is about prioritising and protecting cyclists. A similar move to be the first borough in the UK to ban pavement parking not only sends out the message that we prioritise pedestrians over vehicles, it will improve the lives of all residents who want to be more active and walk more, pavement parking prevents this from happening and also has a significant effect on the mobility impaired and the partially sighted which causes them to feel even more vulnerable than they already are.

 

This one single borough wide act will enhance the lives of over 380,000 people especially vulnerable road users including wheelchair users, mobility scooter users, visually impaired, carers, children and families; everybody.  If Cheshire East Council are serious about reducing carbon emissions and having a positive impact on climate change, passing this motion would make a significant contribution to making life safer for residents, protecting those that need our protection and encouraging people to use their cars less, which would have an impact on climate change.

 

Not everybody has a car, can't afford one and doesn't want one, but everybody has to get around, and protecting those who want to actively travel needs to be a priority. Everybody has to walk or be mobile, now more than ever, a ban on pavement parking will give people real choice to be more active.

 

Pavement obstruction in addition to pavement parking has an impact on the ability of vulnerable pedestrians in particular to navigate and travel safely.  Therefore a separate policy to look at pavement obstruction is to be considered

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Motion be referred to Cabinet.

 

 

The following two Motions were considered together.

 

4.         Unregulated Supported Accommodation for 16/17 year olds

 

Proposed by Councillor S Brookfield and seconded by Councillor
J Barber

 

The issues surrounding unregulated children’s homes have been in the news headlines recently.  These homes have always existed but there is mounting concern over their accelerating growth especially because they often care for the most vulnerable young people.  

 

Children’s homes are currently registered with Ofsted and inspected regularly. Unregulated homes are allowed in law and support young people over the age of 16 to live independently. If the child is receiving some form of care rather than support they are required to live in a children’s home registered by Ofsted. 

 

Whilst it is recognised there will almost certainly be some excellent unregulated provision equally there may be homes in which vulnerable young people are unsafe and this clearly is not acceptable. 

 

It is not known how many of these homes exist as there is no requirement to register their existence.

 

This Council calls on all Members of Parliament within Cheshire East to ask that legislation is put forward to ensure that all children’s homes in all sectors be registered with Ofsted or other regulatory body.

 

5.         Children’s Homes

 

Proposed by Councillor S Brookfield and Seconded by Councillor
J Barber

 

Background:-

 

An MP has warned that the children’s home market in England is “run in the interests of the providers” rather than for the benefit of children and young people.  The chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on missing children, told MPs during a debate about that a third of children were placed 20 miles or more from their home areas, and suggested the problem was because homes are being set up in low-cost areas to suit business purposes, rather than what’s best for children.

 

It is concerning that 79% of children’s homes are in the private or voluntary sector and large private equity firms are entering the market. Clearly they do not invest in children’s homes for altruistic purposes. It is therefore important that their profits should not be at the expense of the needs of the children. 

 

In 2012, children’s homes were concentrated in the north-west, the west midlands and the south-east. For example, the north-west has 15% of the children’s homes population, but 25% of the children’s homes. This means that increasing numbers of cared for children are living at a distance from their family and local community. 

 

One reason for this could be that property prices were so much lower in some areas than others, leading companies to set up in low-cost areas to suit business plans rather than what is best for the children.  In Crewe we have seen an increase in private children’s homes with no regard for the areas they are located and call-in requests by local ward members have been declined.  

 

It should be noted and commended that this Council, Cheshire East Council commission local children’s home provision for our children. 

 

Motion:-

Cheshire East Council asks the Government that the planning regulations nationally be revised so that all applications for Children’s homes for change of use are statutorily considered at planning committees rather than under delegated powers or permitted development rights and that the representation of Children’s services bodies as to the suitability of the location as a children’s home is given significant weight in determining the application.

 

Furthermore that this Council contacts all Members of Parliaments in Cheshire East that they provide support for this Motion and they also lobby the Government for changes in planning legislation for Children’s Homes.

The Mayor proposed that a letter be sent to the Minister reflecting the matters raised in the Notices of Motion.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Portfolio Holder write to the Minister on the matters raised in the two Notices of Motion.

 

 

6.         Cheshire East Mayoralty

 

Proposed by Councillor J Barber

 

This Council will look to abolish the Cheshire East Mayoralty and asks the Constitution Committee to investigate and report back to full Council on a solution with implementation from 2020/21.

AMENDMENT

 

Following the proposing and seconding of the above motion, an amendment was proposed and seconded, to the effect that the Motion would read:-

 

“This Council asks the Constitution Committee to carry out a review of the Cheshire East Mayoralty and report back to full Council with recommendations before the start of the municipal year 2020/21.”

 

The amendment was declared carried.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Motion, as amended, be referred to the Constitution Committee.